Articles and comments by Fadi Zanayed, a Moderate Palestinian, about the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Palestinians Can Teach Jews Forgiveness

On Tweeter many have commented on the
hashmark #WhenPalestineisFree. I tweeted
the following: “#WhenPalestineisFree I will advocate forgiveness. I won't be
like the #Zionists who kill #Palestinians after being killed in the #Holocaust.” Our quest to liberate Palestine has to have a
human component that says we will not be like the Apartheid Zionists. We will
forgive but just like the Jews of the world, we will not forget.

The tweets I read expressed joy and
happiness at the thought of a free Palestine. hodanxo
wrote “there will be smiles replacing the tears, love replacing hatred and
freedom at last.” SoumaiaHashad stated “I'm afraid I would die from the happiness.”
rolla_ramadan
simply stated, “I don't think I can explain how happy I would be.”

Other tweeters expressed the demise
of Israel and Zionism. While I do not think this is a productive sentiment, I
can understand the frustration.You see
I do not want my Palestinian brothers and sisters to do onto Zionists what
Zionists have done onto Palestinians.

The Holocaust was a very tragic
event in human history. It taught
mankind that any attempt to commit genocide upon any people should be opposed
at all cost. Yet that lesson was not instilled in the mindset of Zionists.
While they said “never again,” it only meant “never again” only to the annihilation
of Jews for just a few years after the discovery of the gas chambers in Auschwitz, future leaders of the Apartheid
State of Israel committed atrocities that one could not reconcile with the
Holocaust committed against Jews. It was hypocrisy in its truest form.

It would also be hypocritical
for Palestinians to commit acts of violence against Jews when a Palestinian
State comes into being, and it will come into being. We Palestinians need to learn from history and
need to forge a more decent world in which we all live. We Palestinians need to
assist other nationalities who long to be free.
Just as we Palestinians seek to be free of apartheid Israel, we need to keep
advocating freedom for all mankind.

A human element needs to
be a part of the Palestinian struggle to be free of the Israeli apartheid
practices. If there is no human element
than the our struggle will not have been worth the effort. If we Palestinians want to commit atrocities against
Israelis after a Palestinian State comes into being then we will be no better
than the apartheid Zionists which commit atrocities against us now.

We Palestinians cannot be
like the Apartheid settlers who are using their cars to run over Palestinian
children. This is absurd. These acts are made by desperate Zionists who know
that they cannot morally continue the apartheid system in Palestine. By the
year 2016 it is expected that the Palestinian population in Israel, West Bank
and Gaza will outnumber Jews. Morally,
ethically and politically, Apartheid Israelis know that they cannot continue the
apartheid system in the West Bank, cannot continue its siege of Gaza and cannot
continue to discriminate against 20% (or more by 2016) of its population in
Apartheid Israel. This is widely
known. The demographics speak for
themselves. When we Palestinians are free from the oppression of the Apartheid Israelis, we, the oppressed Palestinians, cannot become the oppressor.

I believe that
it is the duty of the majority to safeguard the minority because the majority can
become minority over time. In time, Apartheid Israelis will become the minority
in a one state solution. It is inevitable! At that point, Palestinians must not
become the apartheid regime that they are now fighting to change.

Palestinians
can show the world that the concept of forgiveness is a powerful element so
lost upon the Apartheid Israelis. While Jews tried to rid Palestine of the Palestinians
after they were subjected to near annulation through the Holocaust, the
Palestinians can teach the Jews that forgiveness is the human element that was the
missing link that could have prevented the atrocities of the past seven
decades.

Then
Palestinians and Israelis can in the words of RobaSalibi “live
happily ever after :)”

About Me

Fadi Zanayed is an author, poet, community activist and an attorney since 1985. A graduate from Loyola University with a B.S. in Managerial Accounting and a minor in Political Science in 1983, he received his law degree from Loyola School of Law in 1985. A Palestinian American whose family originates from Ramallah, Palestine, Fadi Zanayed is an active and proud member of the Arab American community with a long history of community leadership and service. They include: Founding Member of Arab-American Bar Association of Illinois, Inc.; Former Regional Director & Past President, Chicago Chapter of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee; Past President of the Chicago Chapter of the Palestinian American Congress; Past National Secretary of the Palestinian American Congress; Past President of the Chicago Club of Ramallah, Palestine; Past Member of the Board of the American Federation of Ramallah, Palestine; Past President of the American Youth Federation of Ramallah, Palestine. He is the author of Cycle of Frustration: A collection of poems about Palestine; and Betrayal, Sorrow and Tomorrow (pen name: Chris F. Wollinks).